BriefMobile

Logitech K760 Wireless Solar Keyboard

Lynn R. Anderson — Thu, 31 May 2012 03:50:37 +0000

Logitech K760 Wireless Solar Keyboard

Logitech has announced its latest and greatest keyboard, the K760 Wireless Solar Keyboard. Other than the solar panel across the top, it looks almost identical to Apple’s wireless keyboard. But, it is that solar panel that makes all of the difference in the world. The keyboard is powered entirely by that solar panel with ambient light. Logitech claims that is does not even need batteries as a backup. Yeah, but how long does it last? Logitech claims that the keyboard will last for three months with 8 hours of use a day. The best part: it will recharge from standard indoor lighting. Now, that is impressive.

For all of you Apple fans, this just might be the perfect wireless keyboard as it allows you to connect to three devices simultaneously and switch between all three devices using the function keys.

The K760 is not yet for sale, but pre-orders are available for $79.99 at Logitech’s website.

Download: HTC One V for Virgin Mobile ROM Version 1.08.652.6

Korey Nicholson — Thu, 31 May 2012 03:41:44 +0000

The HTC One V hasn’t yet been announced by Virgin Mobile and we already got our hands on a full software image for the device. Codenamed “Primo,” the One V is running Android 4.0.3 with Sense 4. We aren’t sure what lies inside the RUU executable, but at least we know it is all but confirmed that the One V will be launching on the Sprint-based prepaid network in the near future. The version number for the device is 1.08.652.6, and from what we can tell it will be the ROM shipping with the device.

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Download

RUU_PRIMO_C_ICS_40A_Sprint_WWE_VM_1.08.652.6_Radio_1.00.00.0521_2_NV
_VM_3.46_0503_PRL61008_release_262414_signed.exe

(Mirror) | (Mirror #2)

Lenovo Launches Intel Powered Android Device in China

Chance Miller — Thu, 31 May 2012 01:26:20 +0000

At CES in January, Intel was showing off the first Intel powered Android device for consumers, produced by Lenovo, it was expected to be the first Intel powered device to hit the market. It is no longer the first, but the Lenovo K800 is finally available….in China.

The K800 is packing a 1.6GHz Intel processor with 1GB of RAM and a 4.5-inch IPS display, so it should be a screamer.

The device will ship with a highly optimized version of Android 2.3 Gingerbread, and I wouldn’t expect Ice Cream Sandwich to come anytime soon.

The K800 is available for RMB 3299 ($524) in China. We still don’t have any idea when the first Intel device will hit North American shores.

Show Press Release

Lenovo LePhone K800 brings a High-Performance Mobile Computing Experience

Beijing, China, May 30, 2012 — Intel Corporation and Lenovo Group today announced the general availability of the Lenovo LePhone K800 in China, Lenovo’s first smartphone with Intel Inside®. The LePhone K800 will be available on Lenovo’s official website, 360Buy.com, selected Suning & GOME stores and Lenovo retail stores and is priced at approximately RMB 3,299 ($524 USD). Today’s announcement also marks an important milestone between both companies and a long-standing engagement of collaboration and innovation which spans many facets of mobile computing.

The new Lenovo K800 smartphone has adopted Intel® Atom™ processor, and brings to mobile phone users in China a high performance, low power smart computing experience, and broader choices.

“As Lenovo’s first smartphone with Intel inside, the launch of LePhone K800 has milestone significance,” said Chen Xudong, senior vice president of Lenovo Group and president of Lenovo China. “LePhone K800 represents an innovative achievement for Lenovo in the PC+ era, as well, a significant progress for Lenovo in smartphone market segment. Lenovo and Intel will continue to intensify their cooperation, integrating respective advantages in technology and resources to introduce more and better products and to explore the new frontier of the mobile Internet together.”

“With Lenovo’s launch of LePhone K800, we have successfully realized the idea of expanding Intel’s computing strengths into the smartphone market segment in China,” said Ian Yang, corporate vice president and president of Intel China. “Intel continues to expand its smartphone product lines and ecosystem, looking for wider spectrum of cooperation. China has become the world’s largest smartphone market as the worldwide demands continue to grow. Intel is committed to working with industry partners to collaborate and innovate to develop and bring to the world Intel-based smartphone technologies, products and application models.”

LePhone K800 mainly targets technological pioneers and business elites and aspires to bring Chinese consumers the high performance of Intel inside, with advanced imaging capabilities and a wireless display sharing experience.

Extreme Performance of Intel Inside®
LePhone K800 has a powerful chip – 1.6GHz high-performance Intel® Atom™ processor – providing robust performance to the phone and to easily meet various application demands.

With Intel® Hyper Threading technology, LePhone K800 possesses advanced multitasking capability to simultaneously run and smoothly switch between several applications. The phone also brings support for HSPA+ 21Mbs network with the Intel XMM 6260 platform that provides users with a snappy Internet experience, including fast application responsiveness, while the low power feature of the Intel 32nm Atom™ chip helps to enable competitive low power to provide users with long hours of conversation and entertainment.

Stunning Visual Experience
A 4.5-inch IPS full-view screen and 400MHz GPU with advanced graphics mean wider viewing angle and visual experience. On one hand, it is a high-quality personal cinema that allows users to readily enjoy the smooth visual effect of Full HD 1080P videos, and on the other, it is also a portable gaming center which provides an enhanced game experience.

In addition, it is also a super camera. With powerful photographic functions, users can shoot 1080P HD videos. With the fast responsiveness of the camera, users will not have to worry about missing life’s most precious moments.

Wireless Display Sharing Experience
The LePhone K800’s unique wireless display technology provides a new option to users, allowing them to extend video and images from the smaller mobile phone screen onto a bigger TV screen, making LePhone K800 a true home entertainment center.

LePhone K800 adopts Android 2.3.7 OS, with 1GB RAM and 16GB ROM built-in and is equipped with 4.5-inch IPS full-view screen, 8 million-pixel rear camera and 1.3 million-pixel front camera.

About Intel
Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) is a world leader in computing innovation. The company designs and builds the essential technologies that serve as the foundation for the world’s computing devices. Additional information about Intel is available at newsroom.intel.com and blogs.intel.com.

About Lenovo
Lenovo (HKSE: 992) (ADR: LNVGY) is a $US30 billion personal technology company – and the second largest PC company in the world, serving customers in more than 160 countries. Dedicated to building exceptionally engineered PCs and mobile internet devices, Lenovo’s business is built on product innovation, a highly efficient global supply chain and strong strategic execution. Formed by Lenovo Group’s acquisition of the former IBM Personal Computing Division, the Company develops, manufactures and markets reliable, high-quality, secure and easy-to-use technology products and services. Its product lines include legendary Think-branded commercial PCs and Idea-branded consumer PCs, as well as servers, workstations, and a family of mobile internet devices, including tablets and smart phones. Lenovo has major research centers in Yamato, Japan; Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, China; and Raleigh, North Carolina. For more information, see www.lenovo.com.

Intel, Atom and the Intel logo are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the United States and other countries. Intel Inside is a trademark of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries.*Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.

Just How Much Does the Average Apple Employee Make?

Chance Miller — Thu, 31 May 2012 00:04:35 +0000

Apple has over $80 billion in its pockets, but just how much does your average Apple employee make?

As you would expect, Apple really likes their art directors and makes them some of the highest paid employees in the company. You may remember that Steve Jobs always said Apple focuses just as much on design as on technology. Your average art director at Apple rakes in about $133,664 a year.

Here’s a list of some of the common positions in Apple and their salary.

Apple Store Genius – $38,937
Lead Genius – $38,353
Assistant Apple Store Manager – $49,176
Account Executive – $75,324
Financial Analyst – $81,523
Software Quality Assurance Engineer – $87,651
Business Analyst – $87,768
Systems Engineer – $94,119
Project Manager – $94,652
Mechanical Engineer – $99,900
Senior Systems Engineer – $101,794
Software Engineer – $103,883
Firmware Engineer – $103,985
Test Engineer – $104,926
Hardware Engineer – $105,316
Database Administrator – $105,382
Production Design Engineer – $116,019
Product Manager – $118,556
Senior Hardware Engineer – $124,893
Senior Software Engineer – $126,325
Art Director – $133,664

Obviously, company big wigs like Jony Ive and Scott Forstall make quite a bit more than what is listed above. We should note that Tim Cook, just like his predecessor Steve Jobs, is the worst paid employee at Apple, bringing in just $1 in salary.

Google Voice Adds Call Blocking for Restricted/Anonymous Numbers

Kenneth Pennington — Wed, 30 May 2012 23:46:45 +0000

Google Voice

Today, Google updated the Google Voice ecosystem to allow for call screening based on individual contact numbers and/or anonymous callers. Google Voice users can bounce over to their Google Voice inbox, navigate to the “Settings” menu and add contacts to their screen list under the “Group” tab. Google plans additional integration with Voice and Google+, allowing users to screen calls based on their circles of friends.

Google Now Selling Galaxy Nexus Accessories Through the Play Store

Chance Miller — Wed, 30 May 2012 22:51:30 +0000

Google has just announced that they will be offering Galaxy Nexus accessories through the Play Store. The accessories join the HSPA+ Galaxy Nexus in Google’s hardware offerings online.

Google is selling the Desktop Dock, HDMI Portrait Desktop Dock, and the Vehicle Dock all for the GSM/HSPA+ Galaxy Nexus. These are NOT compatible with the Verizon or Sprint Galaxy Nexus.

Presumably, Google will sell all future Nexus devices, whether they be phones or tablets, through Google Play. Google is definitely trying to turn the Play Store into your one-stop-shop for all things Android.

Check out the accessories here.

Download the Flipboard Beta APK Now

Chance Miller — Wed, 30 May 2012 22:44:42 +0000

Flipboard for Android was officially announced as an exclusive for the Galaxy S III, but it wasn’t exclusive for long as we saw the APK leak out on XDA. Since the leak, the app has received an over-the-air update and the Galaxy S III has been released. Today, the official beta APK was made available by Flipboard to those who signed up earlier. If you sign up today, you should receive the link in 24 hours. However, you don’t actually have to sign up, as you can download it from Flipboard’s servers right here.

No one is sure when the app will hit the market, but that doesn’t matter as long as this beta APK works!

Tim Cook Talks Siri, Patents, Foxconn, and More at D10

Chance Miller — Wed, 30 May 2012 21:51:42 +0000

New Apple CEO Tim Cook gave one of his first full-length interviews last night at All Thing Digital’s D10 conference. While talking to Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher, Cook didn’t announce any new devices or leak any information, but he did give us some interesting info.

When asked about Siri, Cook says they are working furiously on the service to add many new features to it. “I think you are going to be really pleased with where we take Siri,” he said. When asked what Siri proves about the market, Cook said ”Siri has proven to us that people want to relate to the phone in a different way.”

Tim Cook did have some very heartfelt comments regarding the late Steve Jobs. ”It was absolutely the saddest [day] of my life when he passed away. Steve was a genius and a visionary… He’s an irreplacable person. Steve was an original and I don’t think there is another one of those being made. I’ve never felt the weight of trying to be Steve. It’s not who I am and it’s not my goal in life.”

Mr. Cook said being Apple’s CEO is his “oxygen.” “I spend my days working with teams on various products… It is my oxygen, that’s how strongly I feel about it.”

When asked his opinion on the on going patent wars in technology, Cook said exactly what everyone thinks, “Well it is a pain in the ass.”

Everyone knows Apple has had issues at its Foxconn plant in China, but Cook says they are working very hard to make sure things are running smooth. “Some people want to work a lot. They want to move and work for a year or two and then move back to their village and bring back as much money as they can.” ”Apple now has 95 percent compliance and is tracking 700,000 workers in China. I don’t know anyone else [that] is doing this… We’re micromanaging this.” When asked if Apple could ever put “Made in America” on its devices, Cook simply replied “It may.”

You knew Cook wouldn’t get out of D10 without an Apple TV/iTV/MacTV question. ”This is an area of intense interest for us,” Cook said regarding Apple TV, saying that Apple has sold over 2.7 million Apple TVs so far in 2012. “We’re going to keep pulling this string and see where it takes us.”

You can watch the interview on All Things Digital’s site here.

Galaxy S III for Canada Announced – LTE, 2GB of RAM, and Dual-Core S4 CPU

Korey Nicholson — Wed, 30 May 2012 20:50:48 +0000

Samsung Canada has announced that the Samsung Galaxy S III will be available for the Canadians starting June 20. They did not specify which carriers will be hosting the device, but were very vocal on the specifications of the device. The device will be different than the international model in a few ways. Of course, it will be equipped with 4G LTE, but along with that it will sport 2GB of RAM and the 1.5GHz dual core Snapdragon S4 processor. Everything else is virtually identical.

It seems that Samsung is following LG’s suit and upping their high-end devices to 2GB of RAM. Furthermore, this may very well confirm specs for the US variants as well. Many were hoping that the Exynos quad-core would be kept in the SGSIII, but it appears that the S4 will be the processor of choice for 4G LTE editions.

In all honesty, if these are the specs for the US variants, I am not disappointed. In fact, this makes me more excited for the possibility of purchasing this device. The SGSIII wasn’t too anesthetically pleasing as many would have liked, but it still is a killer in terms of specs. Anyone else excited about these specs possibly being the same in their US carrier’s SGSIII devices?

Show Press Release

The Samsung GALAXY S III provides Canadians with a more human smartphone experience

Designed for humans and inspired by nature, the Samsung GALAXY S III brings the best combination of power and performance to the Canadian marketplace

MISSISSAUGA, ON, May 30, 2012 /CNW/ – Samsung Electronics Canada, today announces the models details and availability date of the much-anticipated GALAXY S III. Beginning June 20^th, the Samsung GALAXY S III will be available through leading Canadian wireless carriers and authorized national retailers.

“We are very excited to bring the highly anticipated GALAXY S III to Canadians so they can experience firsthand, the power, performance and passion that Samsung is known for,” said Paul Brannen, Vice President, Enterprise Business Group, Samsung Canada. “This next generation of the GALAXY S series is sleek and stylish, and offers users features that promote sharing, and are intuitive and powerful, allowing Canadians to enjoy a more human experience with their smartphone.”

Natural Interaction

Smart enough to detect face, voice and motions, the GALAXY S III adapts to the user, providing users an interface that is convenient and natural.

With the innovative ‘Smart stay’ feature, the GALAXY S III recognizes how the user is using their device such as, reading an e-book or browsing the web. By having the front camera identify eye motion the phone maintains a bright display for continued viewing pleasure.

The GALAXY S III features ‘S Voice,’ an advanced natural language user interface, to listen and respond to user commands. S Voice presents powerful functions in regards to device control and commands, such as allowing the user to play a favorite song, turn the volume up or down, send text messages and emails, organize schedules, or automatically launch the camera and capture a photo.

With ‘Smart alert‘ the GALAXY S III will alert the user by catching any missed messages or calls with a vibration to notify missed statuses when picked up after being idle. If the user is messaging someone but decide to call them instead, they can simply lift phone to their ear and ‘Direct call’ will dial their number.

Easy and Instant Sharing

The Samsung GALAXY S III is more than a personal device that can be enjoyed by one user – it wants to share and experience smartphone benefits with family and friends, regardless of location with the following features:

With the new ‘S Beam,’ the GALAXY S III expands upon Android™ Beam™, allowing a 1GB movie file to be shared within three minutes and a 10MB music file within two seconds by simply touching another GALAXY S III phone, even without a Wi-Fi or cellular signal.

The ‘Buddy photo share’ function also allows photos to be easily and simultaneously shared with all friends pictured in an image directly from the camera or the photo gallery.

‘AllShare Play’ can be used to instantly share any forms of files between GALAXY S III and tablet, PC, and televisions that are DLNA enabled, regardless of the distance between the devices.

The ‘Group Cast’ feature that allows users to share their screen among multiple friends on the same Wi-Fi network; users can comment and draw changes at the same time as co-workers- witnessing real-time sharing on individual devices.

The preloaded ‘Dropbox’ application provides an even more convenient sharing experience, supplying 50GB of free storage for two years for not just image and music files, but now also for video content. With the GALAXY S III files can also be instantly uploaded through data networks without requiring WiFi access.

Uncompromised Performance

With a 4.8″ HD Super AMOLED display, the GALAXY S III offers a large and vivid viewing experience. Samsung Mobile’s heritage Super AMOLED display even enhances to HD and 16:9 wider viewing angles. To ensure faster content sharing and connectivity, the GALAXY S III offers Wi-Fi Channel Bonding which doubles the Wi-Fi bandwidth.

The GALAXY S III not only presents features with enhanced usability, but also provides an ergonomic and comfortable experience through its human-centric design. Its comfortable grip, gentle curves, and organic form deliver a rich human-centric feel and design. Available in Pebble Blue and Marble White at launch, Samsung will introduce a variety of additional color options.

The GALAXY S III also sports a range of additional features that boost performance and the overall user experience in entirely new ways, with features such as:

‘Pop up play,’ users can play a video anywhere on their screen while simultaneously running other tasks, eliminating the need to close and restart videos when checking new emails or surfing the Web.

An 8MP camera features a zero-lag shutter speed that lets users capture moving objects easily without delay, with the‘Burst shot’ function that instantly captures twenty continuous shots, and the ‘Best photo’ feature that selects the best of eight photographs, the GALAXY S III ensures users a more enhanced and memorable camera experience.

HD video can be recorded even with the 1.9MP front-facing camera, which users can use to capture a video of themselves. An improved backside illumination sensor further helps to eliminate blur in photos that result from shaking, even under low light conditions.

With Samsung Hubs, users can continually refresh phone content through the ‘Game Hub,’ which provides access to numerous social games, while Video Hub, a new service offering to the Canadian marketplace, brings users high quality TV and movies for rent . Furthermore, Samsung Music Hub will offer a personal music streaming service.

The GALAXY S III will be available for purchase in Canada starting on June 20, 2012. Samsung is pleased to be working with all of the leading wireless providers in Canada, to give our customers a choice of service provider. The SGH-i747 variation of the GALAXY S III will be available from Bell Mobility, Virgin Mobile, SaskTel, TELUS and Rogers Wireless. The SGH-iT999 model will be available from Videotron, Wind and Mobilicity.

Additional Features Include:

Processor:

Snapdragon S4 Dual Core 1.5 GHz

Qualcomm MSM8960 Chipset

OS (Shipping): ICS 4.0.4

Data: LTE (SGH-i747 variation) and HSPA+ 42 (SGH-iT999 variation)

Memory: 2 GB RAM

Dimensions: 136.6 x 70.6 x 8.6 mm

Weight: 133g

Memory: 16/32GB internal memory (SGH-i747)/ 16GB internal memory (SGH-iT999)

Expandable microSD up to 32GB

Display: 4.8 HD Super AMOLED 1280×720 (306ppi)

Connectivity: NFC, Bluetooth 4.0, DLNA, WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n, MHL Video Out

Camera: 8MP Rear-facing, 1.9MP Front-facing

Battery: 2100 mAh

Other:

TouchWiz with Motion UX

S Beam

AllShare Play enhance functionality

MP3/ACC+/WAV audio player

DivX/Xvid/MP4/WMV/H.263/ H.264 Video Player

For pre-orders, specific pricing and details, please visit your nearest carrier or retailer. For multimedia content and more detailed information, please visit www.samsungmobilepress.com. In addition, you can find a product introduction video at http://www.samsung.com/global/galaxys3/media.html.

* All functionality, features, specifications and other product information provided in this document including, but not limited to, the benefits, design, pricing, components, performance, availability, and capabilities of the product are subject to change without notice or obligation.

＊Android, Google, Android Beam, Google Search, Google Maps, Gmail, Google Latitude, Google Play, Google Plus, YouTube, Google Talk, Google Places, Google Navigation, Google Downloads are trademarks of Google Inc.

T-Mobile One S Receives Bug Fix Update on June 4th

Korey Nicholson — Wed, 30 May 2012 20:16:03 +0000

HTC One S on T-Mobile

Beginning June 4th the One S will have a software update pushed out to it. This applies only to the T-Mobile edition and it only for fixes. It will increase the build number from 1.53.531.16 to 1.84.531.2. The update is still Android 4.0.3, so no major improvements have been made. Here is a list of all the improvements the One S customers will see after installing the OTA update:

Improvements

Resolves goodbye splash not appearing when powering off due to low battery.

Resolves voicemail indicator not appearing while using Wi-Fi calling.

Improvements to Wi-Fi Calling

Improvements to camera stability

Resolves signal fluctuation.

Like I said, nothing too significant. It is mainly a fix to WiFi calling issue One S customers have been reporting. We will be working on getting the full ROM for users in the near future, but until then let us know if you get the update and if you notice any major changes in performance.

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